House passes elected officials salary billLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas House has passed a bill to fund salaries for the state's elected officials, including a 1 percent raise for judges, prosecutors and constitutional officers. The raise does not extend to the lawmakers themselves. On a 78-12 vote Wednesday, the House passed the bill and sent it to the Senate. It is typically the first measure considered during a legislative session. The bill needed 75 votes in the 100-member House...

Lawmakers weigh ’private option’ amendmentsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers are moving forward with an effort to save a compromise Medicaid expansion by barring the state from promoting the expanded coverage or the federal health overhaul. The proposal endorsed by a legislative subcommittee Wednesday is aimed at swaying opponents of the private option that was approved last year as an alternative to expanding Medicaid. Under the private option, Arkansas is using federal Medicaid f...

Body of missing pilot removed, sent to hometown LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Firefighters lined the streets in Montgomery County as the body of an Arkansas Forestry Commission pilot body began its journey home Wednesday, 12 days after he disappeared while flying a patrol for wildfires. An honor guard from the North Little Rock police, where pilot Jake Harrell was officer, and representatives of the commission escorted his remains. A Civil Air Patrol search crew found the wreckage of the plane at 4 p....

River level lowered to aid search for woman FULTON (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowered the level of the Red River to help searchers hoping to recover an Ashdown woman missing since an icy traffic accident. Millwood Lake flows into the Red River near Fulton. The water level was initially lowered so much that searchers had trouble keeping their boats afloat. Several vehicles collided during icy weather early Saturday and police say when a sliding tractor-trailer approached the...

Call center in Jonesboro to close in May JONESBORO (AP) — A call center in Jonesboro is again closing its doors and laying off employees. StarTek said Tuesday that 125 people will lose their jobs as the facility shuts down completely on May 12. Company marketing director Rosemary Hanratty says the Jonesboro call center performed well, but that StarTek decided to close it as part of a “strategic business decision.” StarTek previously ceased operations in northeast Arkansas in April 20...

Worker killed at Mississippi County steel plant HICKMAN (AP) — Authorities say an employee at a Nucor Steel plant has died in a train accident at the steel company’s facility in Mississippi County. The Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office says 48-year-old Thomas Dazey was riding in a train car early Tuesday when the train derailed. Authorities say Dazey suffered a fatal head injury when he got caught between his train and another train. The Courier News reported that Dazey was pronounced dea...

Searcy voters approves tax hike for city services SEARCY (AP) — Searcy voters have approved a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund a variety of city services, including street and infrastructure improvements and payments into the police and fire retirement system. According to unofficial results, about 64 percent of voters approved the tax increase during a special election Tuesday. The levy will increase the city’s existing 0.5 percent sales tax to 1.5 percent for eight years. The Daily Citi...

Arkansas Children's Hospital now offers iPhone appArkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) has launched the free MyACH iPhone app to help busy parents manage their children’s health information in an easily accessible and secure way. “MyACH is an app that’s a must for every parent. As parents, we’re increasingly on the go with more and more of our lives transitioning to the mobile environment. That’s exactly why we’ve created the MyACH app: to meet parents where they are and to make their child’s ...

Budget chairman warns private option at riskLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A state Senate leader warned colleagues on Tuesday that Arkansas’ compromise Medicaid expansion was at risk, as lawmakers tried to map out a timeline for deciding the future of the health care program. Supporters of the state’s “private option” said they still didn’t have enough votes in the Senate to reauthorize the plan that was approved last year as an alternative to expanding Medicaid’s enrollment under the federal healt...

Water search for missing woman to resume Thursday FULTON (AP) — Authorities have temporarily suspended the search for a woman on the Red River who has been missing since she and another person went over a highway bridge railing on Saturday during a crash on an icy bridge. The search for 42-year-old Janice Northcross of Ashdown was called off Tuesday due to cold conditions on the river. Her husband, Eddie Northcross, says a dive team will try to find his wife on Thursday. The divers were unabl...

Students improve on Advanced Placement examsLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas students have shown continued improvement in scores on Advanced Placement exams. The College Board reports that 4,390 of Arkansas’ 27,492 graduates in 2013 — 16 percent — scored a 3, 4 or 5. A score of 3 or higher is general accepted for college credit. The College Board’s report says 12,670 Arkansas students took an AP exam during high school. The exams cover various subjects in math and science; English, his...

Trial set in police dispatcher’s death HOT SPRINGS (AP) — A judge has scheduled a July trial for a man charged in the 2011 death of a Hot Springs Village police dispatcher. Kevin Duck is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, Dawna Natzke. Natzke’s body was found Dec. 31, 2011, but Duck wasn’t charged in her death until late last year. At a hearing Monday, a judge scheduled Duck’s trial for July 22-25. A pretrial hearing was set for July 21. Natzke — the m...

Former Sec. of State Rice to speak in Fayetteville FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — The University of Arkansas says former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak next month at an event on campus. Rice is scheduled to speak March 5 as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Arkansas. The lecture will be held at Barnhill Arena and is free and open to the public. UA says traffic may be an issue because the Razorbacks’ men’s basketball team is also playing at home that night,...

Sheriff: Berryville fire deaths ruled accidental BERRYVILLE (AP) — Authorities say no foul play was involved in a house fire that killed two people near Berryville last month. Carroll County Sheriff Bob Grudek said the Jan. 27 fire that killed 26-year-old Daniel Cody Middleton and 31-year-old Jackie Lee Aday has been ruled accidental. Grudek told the Harrison Daily Times although they haven’t been able to pinpoint the cause of the blaze, investigators found no evidence of accelerants or foul...

Conway bank drops truck giveaway at festival CONWAY (AP) — The popular “Stuck on a Truck” contest at Conway’s annual Toad Suck Daze festival is off this year. Centennial Bank, which sponsored the annual vehicle giveaway, announced Monday that it won’t be bringing back the contest during this year’s festival in May. The giveaway began in 2001 as “Hug a Bug” and has become a major attraction at the festival in downtown Conway. Centennial Bank president David Druey told the Log Cabin Democr...

Support group for teen victims of date violence LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is launching a support group for teenage victims of dating violence. The medical school said Monday that the group is for teens 16 and older who have experienced violence while on a date. The group meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at UAMS’ Psychiatric Research Institute. The group is open to teen victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence by a date, partner or spouse. Feb...

Forestry commission says missing pilot found dead LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Forest Commission says a pilot missing since Jan. 31 was found dead after crews located his aircraft. Agency spokeswoman Adrianne Barnes confirmed Tuesday that pilot Jake Harrell did not survive. Search crews had worked for 11 days to find Harrell. A Civil Air Patrol pilot spotted the wreckage at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Ground crews then went to the site. The plane was found near Glenwood in wooded and mountainous...

State lawmakers gavel in fiscal session Arkansas lawmakers have opened a legislative session that's expected to focus on the future of the state's compromise plan to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law. The House and Senate convened Monday for the state's third-ever fiscal session. It's the third slimmed-down session focusing on the state's budget under a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2008 requiring the Legislature to meet and budget annually. The top age...

State eyes explosives for old Broadway Bridge Arkansas highway department engineers are considering a spectacular farewell to the Broadway Bridge connecting downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock - crews may blow it up. Planning continues for the construction of a new bridge connecting the two cities over the Arkansas River, but contractors must decide how to best get rid of the current span. According to Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials, detonating the bridge ...